Didn't win this time? Then keep trying. Check out the latest author contests in the sidebar ---> Also keep checking in because the Monthly Giveaway will be starting again soon!
Oh and check out Judy's books!
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The writer has a few books already to her name but her Grim Reaper Series is the topic of the interview I posted back on Sunday. If you don't already know the books then maybe it is time you took a look at them! I loved Dying Echo and I really looking forward to reading the rest of the series.
When you have read the interview make sure you enter the contest! I am giving away three kindle copies of Embrace the Grim Reaper to three lucky winners! All you have to do is use the widget to enter and make sure you add your comment to the post!
The contest is open till Sunday! So get a move on!
With only under a week left to go before Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet releases it maybe a good time to go add your name to the hat! You can't win if you don't enter!
The Rafflecopter widget says you have another 11 days left to enter.
Haven't read any of Darynda's books yet? Go get some now! You are missing a huge delicious treat!
I came across her Grim Reaper Series totally by accident and found myself reading the fourth book first! Dying Echo was a great read and I couldn't wait to ask the author onto the blog and tell us more about the series.
Enjoy the interview and make sure you enter this weeks contest! There are three Kindle copies of the first book in the series up for grabs!
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Amber - Welcome to Amberkatze's Book Blog! It is great to have you here as a guest! Could you start things off by telling us a little about your Grim Reaper Series?
Judy - Sure! The Grim Reaper books are paranormal mysteries for adults (or whoever wants to read them!) that are grounded in the real world, with the small paranormal element of...ahem...the Grim Reaper, who is the protagnists' Watson. Each book takes place in a different locale, with Casey, the main character, traveling from place to place.
Amber - How did you come up with the idea for the Grim Reaper series? Was it a long process or did it just come to you?
Judy - My first mystery series, the Stella Crown books, was set in Pennsylvania on a dairy farm. She lived in one place, had a set group of friends, and, as I felt toward the end of the fifth book, a limited ability to provide a realistic "dead body" for many more stories. (I have recently begun work on another of these books, though! A few years of rest has given me new energy for Stella...) I needed a series with "legs," and I figured someone who was in a different place in each book would have more opportunities to run into dead bodies, or a least criminals. So that's how the idea first took shape. Then, as I was writing the book, my dad was diagnosed with cancer. As we lived with him through his last months, Death became such an intense part of my life that I thought it would be a fitting companion for a woman with a tragic past. And that's how the paranormal sidekick came to be.
Amber - Dying Echo is the fourth book in the series and the latest release. What can you tell us about it?
Judy - Casey spends her time running from her past, and trying to escape her own grief. In this fourth book of the series, she is called home to help out her brother. She doesn't want to return there, but her love for her brother pulls her back. So this is a book that brings her conflict with her past right in her way so she can't avoid it, like she usually does.
Amber - Writing a mystery can't be easy. How do you go about setting up the plot? Do you already know 'who did it' before you begin?
Judy - You know, it's different for each book. Sometimes the whole plot clicks into place, sometimes it's more like a fragile idea that needs a chance to grow. With DYING ECHO, I wasn't sure how it was going to end. I knew there were some bad guys, and what they did, but it took me a while to figure out who exactly they were and what exactly happened! Other books I have plotted out from start to finish, and it's just a matter of putting it in words. I have to admit, it is a lot easier that way!
Amber - Casey has been through a lot since the loss of her husband and child. Was it hard to write about her loss?
Judy - I do feel her pain in a lot of ways, but it was harder in the first two books, when my dad's death was pretty raw. I still miss him a lot, of course, but Casey's tragedy has become her own, separate from my personal life. I know I'm not alone when I say I have shed tears when writing certain scenes. We authors do get pretty connected to our characters!
Amber - Your Grim Reaper seems to be a techno freak. Do you also love ipads, apps etc?
Judy - I like technology, but it's not a real passion of mine, or anything. It's been fun in each book to have Death be obsessed with something different. In one book it's food, in one it's music, in another it's clothes... Just a little something to give Death an "in" in today's world.
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> Amber - How do you pick the names for your characters? Do they have any special meanings?
Judy - I know it sounds weird, but often characters come to me with their names already attached! Sometimes, though, I need to change the name because there's another character whose name is too similar, or I just don't like it! And other times there are names that I hear that I just think are cool, so I use them! In Casey's case, my husband had a soccer player on his team whose last name was Maldonado, and I just had to use it.
Amber - Why did you decide to start writing? And how long did it take to get published?
Judy - I have written as long as I remember. My first "novel" was from my third grade year! As a kid and teenager I published a few short stories, then as an adult got serious about novels. I have several novels in the attic, so to speak, and TILL THE COWS COME home was my first published one, but my third attempt at a complete book. After finishing, it took almost four years for it to see print. I went through the whole agent search, publisher search, and all that, and finally found Poisoned Pen, who has been a fantastic home for me.
Amber - I am sure that being an author has its ups and downs. What experiences have you had so far?
Judy - Yes, there are definitely both sides of it. The ups are many -- having the book out there for people to read, being affirmed by the publishing industry, being a part of the wonderful mystery community...it's a great, great, thing, and I try not to take any of it for granted. The downs mostly have to do with marketing and trying to sell something new. It's so easy to see what other people are doing and to compare myself -- in a negative way, of course. It's hard to stay positive in today's publishing climate, when I write things I love, but they don't sell.
Amber - How will the series continue? Will there be more Grim Reaper books?
Judy - I believe there will be at least one more book in this series, but I need a little time to figure out where to take it. DYING ECHO ends with some questions, and I have to discover the answers before I write the next story. Another reason to go back to Stella and see what she's up to!
Amber - Is the Grim Reaper series your only work? Are you working on anything else?
Judy - Well, there's Stella, then I also have some novels for younger audiences I'm working on. I would dearly love to get published in the YA or middle-grade market one of these days! Those books of mine range from paranormal to romance to fantasy. I love reading all those different genres for those ages, so I guess it figures I like to write them, too!
Amber - A lot of authors have 'soundtracks' for their books. Is there any music that influenced your books?
Judy - The only thing I can think of right now is in my Stella books she is a classic rock fan (which is kind of funny, because I'm really not). Also, her cows like classical, which is because that's what my research cows actually listened to when I'd visit the farm! I can't write while I listen to music -- too distracting. But sometimes songs will come on the radio and will elicit a certain feeling, and give a sense of a scene. That's always fun. And kind of weird. Just the other day a song came on in the van and my son started telling me the whole scenario he pictured when he heard it. So I guess I'm not the only one who does that!
Amber - What have you been reading and watching lately? Do you have any recommendations for us?
Judy - Recent reads have included a wide variety of things. I just went through all the Spellman books by Lisa Lutz and LOVED those. I had a Sookie Stackhouse marathon earlier this summer (Charlaine Harris). My son got me into the BONE graphic novels by Jeff Smith, and they are so fun! Others on my recent list: Gerald Morris' SQUIRES TALES series, THE GODDESS TEST series, by Aimee Carter, and some books on marriage and family by Kevin Leman. As for shows, I've found WHITE COLLAR, which is very fun. I enjoy so much about it. I also like LEVERAGE, the BBC Inspector Lewis mysteries, and THE CLOSER. I've watch DEXTER, also, but that always feels a little funny to admit to...
Amber - What's your favorite paranormal movie of all time??
Judy - This is a hard one. So many good movies! One of my favorite movies ever is RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, and that has the paranormal elements of the Ark of the Covenant. Does that count? I am not a horror movie buff, but I do like things with less scary supernatural things. I love TRUE BLOOD.
Amber - If you could be any famous person, alive or dead, who would you be? and why?
Judy - I should say something like Mother Teresa, shouldn't I? But I guess in many ways it would be JK Rowling. I'm sure there are downsides to her life (as with any person), but -- besides the monetary part, which would have its own issues -- how awesome would that be to know that you got millions and millions of kids (and adults!) to READ.
Amber - Thanks for visiting Amberkatze's Book Blog!
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Contest Time!
There are 3 kindle copies of Embrace the Grim Reaper up for grabs! Three lucky winners will get to read the first book in the series!
How To Enter
Use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter the contest.
Keep the contests going by using the Bookdepository.com and Amazon.com links/Banners below and around the site.
Entrants should check back to see if they have won. I do not hunt down winners you must claim your prize within 7 days of the winner being announced!
It’s been years since Casey Maldonado visited her hometown, and the only reason she’s returning now is to get her brother Ricky out of jail, where he sits after being arrested for the brutal murder of Alicia McManus, his girlfriend of several months. Casey believes in her brother’s innocence, but proving that to the cops is a different thing altogether, especially since she has her own murder warrant to worry about. Perhaps even more frightening than the law is Casey’s confrontation with her personal demons – the home she shared with her late husband and son, the resentment of her mother, and even the presence of Eric, who wants to be more than just a friend.
As Casey and her ever-present companion Death investigate Alicia’s murder, it becomes clear she was not who she claimed to be, from her name to her non-existent past. Instead of a solid history, she left only questions when she died. Where did she come from? What secrets did she know? And, most importantly, who were the three people she spoke of when Death carried her away?
Casey must sort the truth from the elaborate fiction of Alicia’s life in order to clear Ricky’s name, but as she reveals the woman’s secrets Casey begins to see just how alike their lives appear. Is Casey destined to an existence as empty and dark as Alicia’s, or can she overcome the tragedy of her past and move forward into a life worth living?
My Thoughts :
The title of this book caught my eye and the blurb had me grabbing for it. I love a good mystery and if it has a paranormal element then I can't resist it! I was expecting something a little cozy but with a darker element to it. Not the same kind of action and humour as the Charley Davidson series but maybe something more along the lines of Victoria Laurie's work. What I got was something much more mystery and less cozy and with a paranormal presence that didn't really jump into action.
Before I continue with my review I think it is wise to point out that, unlike what I thought, this is not the first in a new series. There was no big flashing sign saying this was an already established series and the description didn't make be believe otherwise. So it annoyed me slightly when I realised that there was information I was missing. Some of the gaps were filled in eventually but it was clear that there was more. I had a look on Amazon and saw that Dying Echo is the fourth in the Grim Reaper Mysteries.
Now I hate joining a series in the middle of things but except for a couple of little details I managed, with the help of the authors writing style, to catch up on most what I had missed out on in the first three books. However I had no idea why Casey can see Death and communicate with him and I hadn't had the chance to see Casey and Eric build their history together. I also felt a little confused about how Casey has grown since the death of her family. She thinks about it so much and the plot calls for a lot of memories and confrontations (going back to the house they all lived in) but I had missed the two years it had take to get her there. This hindered my ability to bonding with the main character.
So aside from that? What can I say? Well I can tell you all that when I did go and check on Amazon I downloaded the first book in the series. Only about a quarter of the way through Dying Echo and I was willing to go back and see what happened. Actually I am extremely curious about what happened earlier. There was something about Casey that I made me want to get to know her more and I also want to desperately fill the gaps. I liked this book. It was more than interesting.
The author has a great concept with the Grim Reaper helping Casey. Death is actually pretty funny even if the story seems very somber. The mystery and plot is very well thought out and it wasn't one of those cases where you know who did it before all the characters figure it out. You actually figure it out with them. Oh and despite this being the fourth book and the little things I need to catch up on, this book nearly stands alone.
Although one thing bugged me more than missing the first three books. Casey goes back to the place she has lived all her life. She left because of an event that the whole town must have heard about. However nobody knows who she is! No one recognises her and everyone is surprised that she is the sister of the accused. When she introduces herself there are no 'Oh you are that sister' or 'I remember you from the papers'. It was very weird. Maybe there is a reason for this that I didn't catch but I can't understand why nobody would know her.
Anyway this review has ended up sounded a little mixed and quite negative in a few aspects. However I have to point out that I really did enjoy this. It was good enough for me to get a copy of the first book and I hardly put the book down all day. I liked it. I hope the next book has more Grim Reaper in it and I hope Death shows off some more of his skills and gets upset with more technology. It will be interesting to see what happens next with him and Casey as well as Casey with Eric.
Great read! Worth checking out or at least trying the first in the series! It was actually quite cheap on Kindle.
